Conservation Strategy Senior Manager

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Project Leadership and Delivery

• Lead the end-to-end design, delivery, and adaptive management of CI’s conservation strategies in Africa.
• Define project scopes, develop workplans, manage timelines, and allocate resources across cross-functional teams.
• Own delivery quality across regional initiatives, ensuring rigorous execution, learning, and iteration.
• Translate high-level goals into operational workplans, KPIs, and reporting dashboards.

Performance Monitoring and Decision Support

• Oversee regional delivery monitoring systems to track progress across CI’s Africa portfolio.
• Identify cross-landscape trends and performance gaps requiring systems solutions.
• Lead data integration and visualization initiatives (using tools like Power BI) to enable real-time strategic decision-making.
• Provide analytical support for strategic initiatives, including financial modeling and investment planning.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate multi-stakeholder workshops, landscape planning sessions, and strategy reviews with internal and external actors.
• Anticipate Africa leadership needs and proactively provide insights and solutions.
• Serve as a trusted thought partner to country and sub-regional leaders in aligning strategy with on-the-ground realities.
• Communicate key strategy updates, risks, and recommendations through compelling presentations to executive leadership.

Team Management and Capacity Building

• Directly supervise a Senior Coordinator for project delivery and evaluation; guide their growth and effectiveness.
• Build and coordinate high-performing cross-functional teams or task forces, as needed.
• Coach and mentor team members, promote feedback culture, and support professional development.
• Foster collaboration across departments and countries to drive integrated results.

Systems, Process, and Organizational Effectiveness

• Drive continuous improvement of internal systems, tools, and processes for strategy delivery and tracking.
• Support financial planning tools to enable multi-year conservation investments and alignment with funding strategies.
• Lead or contribute to organization-building initiatives, including recruitment, training, and team culture efforts.

Additional Responsibilities

• Support proposal development and donor reporting by contributing strategic content and analysis.
• Represent CI in strategic fora where appropriate, supporting visibility of the Africa strategy and impact.
• Oversee multiple project streams simultaneously and contribute to global strategic initiatives.

People and Resource Management Responsibilities

• Directly supervise one Senior Coordinator.
• Lead a cross-functional strategy team as needed, providing clarity, coordination, and accountability.
• Support performance management, hiring, and capacity development across the Africa strategy function.
• Collaborate with finance, operations, and technical teams to align people and budgetary resources with strategic priorities

WORKING CONDITIONS

• This position follows a hybrid work structure, working some days from the office and some days remotely. Guidance will be shared during the interview process

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in conservation, environmental policy, public administration, strategy, business, or a related field.
• 5 to 7 years of progressively senior experience in strategy, organizational planning, or conservation program management, in the private sector, consulting, conservation, or international NGO contexts.
• Up to 2 years of supervisory experience. 
• Experience working in or with African countries, and a strong understanding of conservation-development dynamics in the region.

Skills / Knowledge

• Proven ability to lead complex strategy design and implementation projects.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, including systems thinking, excellent taste in data, and strong command of AI tools to enhance efficiency.
• High-level communication skills, including preparing executive presentations and reports.
• Expertise in monitoring and evaluation, performance management frameworks, and adaptive learning.
• Strong command of Excel, PowerPoint, Copilot, and data visualization tools (e.g., Power BI, Monday.com).
• Effective interpersonal skills and ability to manage cross-functional, multicultural teams.
• Demonstrated experience in mentoring and managing individuals and teams in a matrixed environment.

Preferred

• Master's degree